


I Like Me Better

by SuperGirl13



Series: A Merry Band Of Dumbasses [1]
Category: Bandstand - Oberacker/Oberacker & Taylor
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Multi, Polyamory, This fic ran away from me, ill explain the context in the notes, its also the shortest thing ive ever written, its just a fluff piece idk what to tell you, the rest of the band isnt in this sorry :/, theres a thing that happens at the ends and its v sweet but i dont want to spoil it, they film a Q&A for youtube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 01:23:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17295005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperGirl13/pseuds/SuperGirl13
Summary: Julia, Donny, and Michael spend a lazy afternoon filming a Q&A about their relationship for their youtube channel, questions are answered and fluff ensues.





	I Like Me Better

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first time writing for Bandstand, hopefully not my last but im notorious for not finishing fics so we'll see! shout out to Rey (@/bbandstand on tumblr) for inspiring this fic and rambling about hcs all day with me, u the tru homie. 
> 
> So the backstory is that this is a Modern AU, Donny and Michael and the DNB all still served, but Michael and Donny didn't meet in the army. (Obviously this is a Michael Lives AU). TDNB is very well known and have two youtube channels, one for official videos, the other that was originally for BTS and the like, but is now basically just a joint channel that the band posts on as they please. 
> 
> Donny, Michael, and Julia are in a polyamous relationship, and the fans have been wanting a Q&A for a while, this is that video. michael's not "famous" but his partners are so he just goes with it.
> 
> Not Beta read, we have bad grammar like men.
> 
> Title is from I Like Me Better by Lauv

“Come on Michael!! The people have questions, let’s get to answering them!” Julia yells, looking off into another room. Michael walks into the frame, sitting on the couch next to Donny, with Julia on Donny’s other side.

“Ok! Lots of people have been asking for this, so we’re doing a polyam Q&A.” Donny starts, “We asked you to send in your questions over twitter and instagram, and then we picked the good ones!” He laughs, looking at his phone, “Ok! First question, ‘ _How did y’all get together?_ ’”

“Well Jules and I have been together since high school,” Explains Michael, “we met sophomore year at musical auditions. But we didn’t actually get together until senior year, we played the long game.”

“Oh hush, the only reason we didn’t get together sooner is because I had a girlfriend and we were monogamous.”

“Oh yeahhhhhh, then they broke up so I swooped in, and we’ve been together ever since!”

“And they picked me up hitchhiking one day!!!” Donny interjects, earning himself a playful slap on the shoulder from Julia.

Michael rolls his eyes. “Shut up, kid. Donny and I met first, on the bar scene of Cleveland. This was before the band and Donny was just taking freelance piano gigs and I was drumming for some extra cash. Julia and I were already married at this point, it was around 3 years? Into our marriage. So we meet at a gig and I was completely infatuated with the kid. Obviously I didn’t act on it, but we became fast friends. I introduced him to Julia, the three of us became friends, Julia and I talked, then we jumped his bones! Simple.”

“That’s not exactly how it happened but we’ll get back to that” Julia laughed, looking at her phone for the next question. “ _How did you know you were polyam?_ ” She looks up, deciding to answer first.  “I mean we didn’t, really? We just, both fell for Donny, and still really loved each other. We didn’t really realize that meant we were polyamorous, at least, not at first.” Julia answered, looking at her boys.

“Monogamy is for scrubs, why have one partner when you can have unrequited crushes on ten people. No but really, I’ve just always been a pretty open person, polyamory always really appealed to me, so I’m living my best life right now.” Donny smiles, then looks for the next question.

“ _Michael isn’t always on tour with you right? Why isn’t he the drummer in the band? How do y'all manage long distance?_ ” Donny looks at Michael, unsure of how to answer that one. 

Michael smiled reassuringly, before jumping into an explanation,

“So the band was Donny’s idea, and I had a steady job lined up and no free time to start a new band so I opted out, simple as. We were just friends still at that point, Julia was in between work though and wanted to get back into singing regularly. Plus, Johnny is fantastic and I can’t imagine the Donny Nova Band without him. I’m their biggest fan.”

“It is hard touring and being away from Michael, but we facetime every day and he visits as often as he can. We make it work.” she shrugs, asking the next question. 

“ _How do you manage jealousy?_ ”

Donny elects to take this one, taking a deep breath and a moment to think of his answer.

“I think it’s just about communicating your needs. There’s this idea that polyam people don’t get jealous, and it’s not true, you just need to tell your partners when you’re feeling that way so you all can fix it together. It’s different for everyone, but it’s just about making sure everyone is comfortable and is getting their needs met.”

“yeah, also, you need to have a certain level of self-confidence and confidence in your relationships,” Michael continues, “When the three of us got together, Donny never came to us about stuff like this because he didn’t think he had the right to feel that way, because he was dating two people who were already together before him. It took a lot of long talks and frankly, some arguments, to get to where we are today.”

“So basically, don’t be an insecure little bitch like me and you’ll be fine! Next question!” Donny laughs, clearly wanting to move on. “ _Have you all three always been together?_ ”

“We already answered this but the short version is no, Michael and I were together for 4 years, almost 5, before we even met Donny, and the three of us have been a triad for 3 years now.” Julia explains, before reading the next question, “ _How did Michael propose?_ ”

Michael interrupts Julia who had started to speak, wanting to tell the story himself. “I had just gotten back from tour, I was gone for a year, and just then and there in the airport I got down on one knee. I didn’t even have a ring yet. I didn’t think I wanted to serve anymore after that, and I did end up retiring, but I couldn’t stand the thought of not being married to Julia and something happening. I needed to marry this girl because she’s my everything, and I couldn’t wait another second. We were both sobbing, it was just a mess, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Michael looks fondly over at his wife, before leaning over Donny, who had a dopey grin on, to give his wife a quick peck.

Michael clears his throat before reading the next question, “ _How did you decide to become a triad, with Julia and Michael already being married?_ ”

They all look at each other for a moment before Julia comes up with a good answer.

“Michael and I had always been really open with each other, so he told me when he was developing feelings for Donny, and I confessed that I has started to as well. There were a lot of conversations about what that meant for our relationship, and if Donny would even want to be a part of this.

“Spoiler, I did” Donny interjects, causing Julia to slap a hand over his mouth so she can keep talking. He laughs, but lets her leave her hand there and doesn't try to interrupt again.

“So after a lot of talking, we decided we would be better with Donny. We were already spending so much time worrying and thinking about it, we both knew it was the right choice. So we invited Donny to dinner and asked him. I’ll spare the details, but yeah! We’ve been together ever since.” Julia smiles at the camera, before removing her hand from Donny’s mouth, who then proceeded to kiss her softly on the cheek.

Michael smiles at his partners, before reading off the next question. “ _What are some misconceptions about polyamory that are totally untrue?_ ”

Donny leans on Julia a bit before answering, “We already touched on this with the jealousy question, but I would say another one is that everything has to be done as a triad. Julia and Michael go on dates, I go on dates with the two of them separately, there’s one-on-one time between all of us, just as much as there is time we spend all together.” He nods, looking to see if his partners have anything to add before reading the next question. He paused when he saw it, but read it anyways. “ _Julia, is it weird dating two guys who are also into guys?_ ” he looks at her confusedly.

Julia sits up straight, “No. I included this just to shut it down. No. Stop.” 

She quickly goes into the next question, “ _Donny, how is it dating two people who are already married? Is it weird for you sometimes?_ ”

He looks pensively and sits back a bit, taking a moment before answering. “It definitely was in the beginning. I felt very out of place, even though Michael and Julia were doing their best to include me, I was just very Aware of their love and history. I almost felt like I was intruding. It took a lot of communication, like we mentioned earlier, for us to get to a healthier place. Now it’s amazing, honestly. I love seeing the two people I love the most loving each other and being all cute, it makes me so happy.” he smiles, earning himself a kiss on the cheek from his boyfriend and girlfriend. Julia pulls away first, asking the next question, “ _You don’t have to answer this, but what are all of your sexualities?_ ”

Michael perks up at that. “we’re all bi as fuck, thank you, next!” he laughs, causing the other two to burst into laughter as well. Once they’ve calmed down, Julia prepares for the last question.

“And finally ‘ _When’s the wedding to make Donny a Trojan too?_ ’” she smiles, look right at the camera.  “We get asked this a lot, and we've talked about it a lot. We really wish polyamorous marriages were legal, but the sad reality is that Donny will never be our legal spouse, not until that law changes.”

“And obviously that sucks,” Donny picks up, “that the law will never see my relationship with my partners the same way it sees theirs, but it’s fine, we know how real our love is, and that’s what’s important.”

Michael smirks when he says this, looking like he’s plotting something. “Yeah, speaking of…” he looks to his wife, an unspoken question on his face. Julia seems to know exacting what’s going on, leaving Donny confused. 

Julia starts, “Hey Donny, Michael and I have something we want to talk to you about. All good, I promise” she smiles, knowing he can get anxious. 

Donny smiles shyly at her, before asking, “what’s up?” He looks apprehensively between his partners, wondering what’s happening.

Julia and Michael make eye contact, and they seem to agree on something simultaneously. They both get down on one knee in front of Donny, causing him to gasp and cover his mouth.

“Nova, my light, my lover.” Michael begins, causing Donny to begin to silently cry. “Meeting you was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’m so glad you decided to take a chance on us. Julia is my rock, but you’re my sun. You bring me warmth and light and make me so indescribably happy. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

Julia continues, “I feel complete with you around, you make the bad days bearable and the good days 100 times better. Every day I look forward to experiencing life with you. We are better people because we know you. I know legally we can’t get married but we want to have this with you. So, for the sake of tradition, Donny,”

Julia glances at Michael, and at the same time they say, “Will you marry us?”

Donny laughs breathlessly, just staring for a moment, crying and smiling, before whispering, “Yes. yes, yes, yes!” He jumps on his partners, hugging them tightly. They embrace for a long moment. Michael draws back and pulls a small box out of his pocket. At this point he’s crying too, as is Julia.

“I forgot to take the ring out!” He laughs wetly, presenting a simple but beautiful ring to Donny, which sends him into a new bought of tears. Donny gives his left hand to Michael, who slips the ring on his finger, before pulling him in and kissing him soundly on the lips. 

“He said yes!” Julia announced to the camera, causing them all to start laughing, and the video ends.

**Author's Note:**

> sidenote: was def not planning on there being a proposal but inspiration struck and i just let it happen. 
> 
> i might write more for this universe! we came up w a lot of Good Shit. Who knows, maybe I'll write a prequel of them getting together.
> 
> hope you enjoyed! pls comment i crave validation in my art!
> 
> find me on tumblr! my main blog is @/spookyscarysapphic and my theater blog is @/skimoffthecream


End file.
